


firsts

by Oparu



Series: a baby dragon and her terrible purple hat [23]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Childbirth, Families of Choice, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-10-23 08:26:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10715799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oparu/pseuds/Oparu
Summary: Emma gives Mal and Regina's very new baby her first present, and then becomes her unfairy godmother.Emma's terrible at knitting, everyone cries happily. Dragon Swan Queen friendship, romantic Dragon Queen. Dragon Queen baby. (Zelena using her fake midwife skills.)





	firsts

**Author's Note:**

> for lucyllawless
> 
> (mild descriptions of the immediate aftermath of childbirth)

She’s so little, bright red and squirmy. Regina’s tears fall on her head, and Mal cradles her against her swollen breasts. Zelena brought them the blanket. It has tiny dragons on it, and she pats the baby’s back, drying some of the gunk from her skin.

She was angry a moment ago, bleating like a little lamb, not a baby, but now she has her mothers and she’s quiet while Zelena whispers how wonderful she is. The umbilical cord pulses on the bed, weird and grey and alien. Emma barely remembers this part from Henry’s birth. Everything hurt and he was crying. She didn’t hold him. She never clutched him tight like Maleficent does.

Mal and Regina whisper about love, and Regina kisses her forehead, over and over. Everything’s slick, and even Emma’s sweaty. Her hands are damp because she held Mal’s shoulders so Regina could see their daughter arrive. Zelena and Nurse Ratched caught her, then everything stopped, because she’s here. Right here. She fumbles at Mal’s breasts, rooting around for a swollen nipple.

Regina laughs, sobs, something and then her hand grabs Emma’s arm. “Look at her.”

“Head’s a little squashed,” Zelena says, readying a very shiny pair of scissors to cut the cord and part them. All of Emma aches, but this baby’s not leaving. No one’s giving her up, no one’s taking her. Her life will be here, with her family.

“That happens when pushing takes awhile.” Nurse Ratched helps clean off the baby and cooes at her. “She looks nearly perfect.” She makes something down on a form, and she and Zelena watch the cord still before they clamp it off.

Zelena touches the back of the baby’s head and smirks. “I don’t think she noticed, seems like she’s ready to eat.”

“Is she all right?” Regina’s voice cracks and Emma wraps her arm around her, trying to keep her steady.

“Perfect,” Ratched promises. “Color’s good, lungs are strong. She’s awake, alert, ready to eat.”

“What do we do? Am I doing this right?” Mal looks at her breasts with absolute confusion, and between the three of them, they shift and guide until that little red mouth grabs a nipple.

Mal makes a face and then they’re all laughing.

“Just needs a hat,” Zelena says, looking at the pile of little blankets. “Did we bring one? Wouldn’t want her to get cold.”

A hat.

“Oh I–” Emma blushes and pulls the little hat out of her jeans pocket. She almost forgot. She wishes she’d forgotten, because it’s an ugly, lumpy little thing because she kept screwing up the stitches and it’s not even hard. It’s just a hat, and she tried to get an apple on it, but it’s really hard. “I made a hat.”

“Emma–” Regina’s voice is almost too thick to be heard. “You made a hat?”

“It’s terrible.”

“Emma, please.” Mal somehow sounds more coherent than Regina, which seems impossible, but she reaches her hand. “Let us see.”

“I’m terrible at knitting.”

“No, Emma, no.” Regina takes it and she clings to the little hat, wiping her tears with her hand. She smiles so bright that it hurts to look at her face. “It’s beautiful. It’s her first present.”

“I brought the blanket.” Zelena mutters and Regina touches her and Maleficent laughs.

“You did, but Emma made this.”

“It’s crooked, and lumpy.”

“I love it.” Regina slips it onto the baby’s damp little head, covering her dark hair. “It fits her.”

“It’s too big.”

Maleficent reaches for Emma and grabs her hand with a gentleness she hasn’t had for the last few hours of labor. “It’s wonderful. Thank you.”

Shrugging, Emma looks down, then back up at their faces. “I’m sorry I didn’t make a better one.”

“Emma–”

“It just happened so fast.”

Regina glances at the clock, and she squeezes Emma, almost hugging her. “Twenty-one hours. You could have made several hats.”

“Was it?” Mal looks up from the baby, eyes wide.

“Shhh,” Regina insists, leaning int to kiss her. “Everything’s fine. Everything’s wonderful. You were perfect, you’re both perfect.”

“She’s getting sappy,” Zelena mutters, rolling her eyes.

“She’s allowed.” Ratched nudges Zelena and they take the placenta over to the table, while it lies like a dead alien creature, ready to be examined or dissected.

Emma watches Regina and Mal kiss again, then stare down at the baby and her ugly little hat between them. It’s dreadful. They can’t possibly like it.

“Thank you, Emma.” Maleficent pulls her close and both of them hug her, sweaty, sticky, still wet with tears, and the baby’s in the middle.

“Her godmother should be the first one to give her a gift,” Regina insists, clearing her throat. “So it’s wonderful.”

She can’t escape. They’re both staring at her. They didn’t pick Zelena, Granny or Ursula, someone who knew what she was doing. They picked Emma. They want Emma to be something to this tiny new baby in an ugly hat.

“Godmother?”

“Please.” Mal smiles at her with liquid blue eyes and _fuck_. No one should be able to ask her anything with that kind of look. “We want you to be a big part of her life. We love you.”

Hormones. Totally hormones, except that Mal doesn’t need to blame them. She says these things.

Regina strokes the baby’s head. “It would mean a lot to both of us if you’d accept.”

Staring at the baby, Emma nods, now her voice catches. “Okay. I’ll practice knitting.”

“Emma, we love it.”


End file.
